Meet David Price and Jeremy Hellickson

As great of a season as it has been for the Tampa Bay Rays so far, Rays fans know that even better days may be on the horizon in upcoming years. The reason for that optimism is the talent that the Rays have accumulated in their farm system. While there are some good hitters in the system that is rated #1 in all of baseball by Baseball America, it is the Rays’ pitching prospects that really stand out. Former first round pick Jeff Niemann, along with Mitch Talbot and Chris Mason, headlines the rotation at Triple-A Durham. Uber prospects Wade Davis and Jake McGee have been with Double-A Montgomery this season. But the best of the prospects are last year’s #1 overall draft pick, David Price, and Jeremy Hellickson, who were both promoted from Single-A Vero Beach to Montgomery this weekend.

Most people know about David Price. In fact, he might be the top pitching prospect in all of baseball. He certainly lived up to the hype with Vero Beach, where he went 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA, and 37 strikeouts with only 7 walks in 34 2/3 innings. Hellickson is a name that you may not be familiar with. However, he excelled in each of the last two seasons, and is 7-1 with a 2.00 ERA this year. Even more impressive are his 83 strikeouts and only 5 walks in 76 2/3 innings. That is an unbelievable 16.6:1 K:BB ratio!

I have become a big fan of both of these guys. Here are the autographed David Price cards in my collection: